Discerning the Quality of Marble Tiles: Beware of Low Bargain Prices

Discerning the Quality of Marble Tiles: Beware of Low Bargain Prices

April 12, 2012

Marble tiles are commonly used in luxury kitchen and bath design because of their exquisite beauty and unparalleled natural hues and movement. But in order to achieve the standard of beauty, color, veining and finish that is expected with marble tiles, homeowners and designers must be weary of marble tiles that are advertised at a discounted price.

Because marble tiles are not sold as whole slabs like countertop surfaces, low-end stone manufacturers can sell marble tile products at drastically lower costs because they are made from mixed lots, rounded corners and heavy veining that is not uniform. Carpet and floor specialist Len Mallory explained in a National Kitchen & Bath Association article entitled "Successful Tile Design and Installation" that she has witnessed several homeowners get "suckered by a 'good price' on tile." Here's how Mallory explained these bargains that are not actually bargains to theNKBA.

"What homeowners don't realize is they are buying 'seconds,' which have several inherent installation issues such as irregular sizing — which makes evenly-spaced grout lines difficult to achieve . . ." Mallory says. In the end, the added installation (labor) cost far outweighs any saving the homeowner may have garnered on the tile purchase.

Homeowners and designers can be wholly confident in the quality, finish and uniformity of the marble tiles here at Marble and Granite as the owners travel directly to the top quarries around the world to hand select first-class stone material. Homeowners and designers can shop from our superior marble tile inventory right here on the Marble and Granite website, which offers complete pricing details and the ability to purchase directly from the site and ship anywhere in the world.